POST-HARVEST PHYSIOLOGY AND CHEMICAL CHANGES DURING COLD STORAGE OF SOME IMPORTANT HORTICULTURAL CROPS IN TURKEY

To transport horticultural crops in good condition from growers to consumers requires knowledge about post-harvest physiology and handling procedures to prevent quality and market value of the crops from deteriorating.
After harvest, physiological and chemical changes occur; to keep these changes to a minimum, crops must be maintained in cold stores immediately after harvest.

Many factors affect post-harvest physiology: among the most important are the growing conditions such as soil, fertilizer, irrigation, plant protection, etc.
Besides these, ecological factors play an important role in determining crop quality.

Although there is much information in the literature about post-harvest physiology and chemical changes of horticultural crops occurring in cold storage, it is not possible to apply these findings to Turkish conditions because of its specific ecology.

The results of many investigations carried out in Turkey showed that fruits and vegetables undergo different physiological and chemical changes during cold storage than those grown in other countries.
These differences include ripening time, colour, texture, water content, soluble solids, acidity, sugar, starch, aromatic components, etc.

It may be useful to include these results in the literature, which mainly refers to results from the developed countries which have different agricultural and climatic conditions.

V International Symposium on Growth Regulators in Fruit Production

R. Türk

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1986.179.137